Homemade Halloween

Every year for Halloween, I have great intentions of making the kid's costumes. I just never get around to actually doing it.

This year, I finally did!

For Caleb, I knew instantly what I was going to make: Lightning McQueen. I've never seen any kid so obsessed with any one thing as much as my child is about the movie 'Cars'. It's borderline ridiculous. But I saw a homemade costume last year that I didn't have time to make:

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This costumes wasn't too difficult to make. I made it on a smaller scale. The only real pain was that I left the logo part of the box on the outside like a big doofus, so it took a lot of paint to cover over! It took me about 20 minutes to cut out and tape together, the painting was a little time consuming and finding the logos online to print and glue took a bit too, but it turned out so cute!

So cute, right?

Now Faith's costume was a little more time consuming then I thought, but not by much. Luckily, a sweet friend of mine who is a MUCH better seamstress than me helped with the design. If I had done it all myself, it would have looked much more ghetto. Painting I can do. Sewing, notsomuch. Anyway, One pink shirt, a pair of brown tights, and some felt later, I had myself a beautiful little cupcake.

Faith got it in her head somewhere that she wanted to be a cupcake for Halloween. So we looked up some homemade cupcake costumes, and she picked out the one she liked best (and she was quite picky about them). She definitely chose the cutest one though:

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Mine isn't nearly as fancy, but I think it turned out pretty cute! Faith approved anyway!

Again, not very fancy, but I am still proud! And I didn't have a sewing machine, so Faith's costume was hand stitched with a lot of hot glue!

I feel so accomplished, I think I will definitely try to make costumes next year too!

Playroom Before and After

So this project was not on my TO DO list this week...

But, I just found the old photos of my basement (can't really do a BEFORE and AFTER without the BEFORE right?)

So, a few months ago, without spending a single penny, I gathered all the old paint in my house (pink from the butterfly in my daughter's room, blue from my son's room, then acrylic paint I had lying around) and painted fun colors in my kid's playroom in the basement. It'll have to do until we get the money to refinish the basement, but it's definitely an improvement from the BEFORE right?

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

An improvement, right?

Soon I will post pictures of my dining room table and chairs I finally painted! YAY

Project ideas

Back to the bullet point updates I wanted to get through from this post. Bullet point #3: Projects around the house.

Okay, since I've finally started connecting with other bloggers and trying to actually do something with mine, I've been so inspired by so many talented women out there! It's insane how many unique ideas I see on a daily basis...it totally has me itchin' to get my hands on something and transform it! Also, being featured yesterday on BetterAfter has me excited to get more BEFORE and AFTER photos going!

So the wheels have been churning. I, of course, barely have the money to look at buying stuff, let alone do a huge makeover, so this is all brainstorming....for now....

1. I have been wanting to paint like nobody's business.  I painted a few rooms when we moved into our house, but I'm still itching to paint this:

My bathroom needs a facelift. I'm thinkin' a burnt orange/copper color.

2. I also want to paint my livingroom:

This neutral gray/beige was easy to work with when we moved in, but I'm over it! It's too dull for me. I want something a little warmer....but I'm not sure on the color yet.

3. The next project is actually two parts, and I've been dreaming about it for over a year now: 

Because I don't technically have a 'dining room' in my house and it's such a small space, I wanted to create something to make this feel like another space. I really want to paint the back wall a different color (maybe the chocolate brown left over from my bedroom makeover). I also want to put up curtains to add some drama and warmth. The second thing I really want to do is re-finish the table and chairs (now that my kids are out of highchairs). It's a cheap set we got when we were married and since I don't see the budget for what I really want in the near future, I'm gonna make this one the best it can be, and I have a really cool idea for it!

4. I would LOVE to get into to buying and repurposing furniture, maybe sell some on Craig's List or my own store. I always see potential in great pieces when I thrift shop, I just need to start doing it.  (oh, and find some space for it!) Where there's a will, there's a way, right?!?

Well, what do you think? Any suggestions before I get my hands dirty?

The 100th

I finally made it to my 100th blog!!!

Now, it's been awhile since I've blogged. Partly cause I wanted to make sure my 100th blog was a good one, but mostly because this is the first breath I've taken this week...YAY for a break!!!

I was also waiting to write this post:

My dear friends in Chicago just had their first baby and didn't find out what they were having. Well, they had a perfectly beautiful baby boy, and I wanted to make them something special. I had seen this idea somewhere and thought it was the CUTEST thing, and just so happened to have all the materials to make it. So here it is: my homemade gift for some of my sweetest friends:

They're little onsies with a necktie pattern - how cute are they?!?! Seriously, I'm in love with them, and I wanted to make them something personal and unique, and I thought this was perfect. Now their little man will be even more of a stud.

I love the way they turned out, and they were so easy to make!!!

Okay, so maybe this wasn't the fascinating, cutting-edge post you'd expect for a 100th....but I'd still love to know what you think! =]

Mini makeover

A few days ago, I posted a little sketch I made and asked if anyone had any guesses as to what it was going to inspire. It looked like this:

Now, there were some good guesses. Most of you were right! I used it for a wall mural for a bedroom makeover in my room! I've been wanting to paint this mural on the wall for months. I saw something similar on a comforter set picture I saw at Target and thought, 'I can do that.' My room is pretty dull so I'm excited to have some interest added in there. I also seem to do all my painting projects when the hubs is out of town, cause he hates to paint....and he doesn't know I did this, so it'll be a surprise! (Unless he reads this blog while he's away - surprise honey!) Here's my bedroom BEFORE:

BTW, I have a terrible camera. Some day....but in the meantime, you'll just have to imagine these pictures with better lighting and clarity. Here's the design I came up with on the wall:

This is all that really came from the sketch...I free handed the rest to fill the space as I wanted it. Here it is after two coats of paint (which took forever, by the way!):

And here's the AFTER:

Again, the lighting is terrible, but you get the idea. I also have this cute green comforter set I got for a steal at Target a couple years ago that I put on the bed for accent. I really like it. And it cost me $5.

What do you think?

Kitchen Makeover - Part I

Some of you know this story, but if not, here's the abbreviated version:

February 7th, we had a warm day and all the ice and snow started to melt...into my house! My kitchen flooded and it was basically pouring in. Jeremy was, of course, out of town so I had to find someone to come take care of the issue. We had a restoration company come in to dry it out, and ended up finding a whole mess of other issues in the kitchen. We have a 2 ft. overhang in the kitchen and it's basically rotted out, down to the studs. Mold, leaks, the works. They tour out that entire wall, so for the last three months, I've been living with no sink or dishwasher (and let me tell you how OVER IT I am!)

After no returned calls, people not showing up, terrible luck, waiting on insurance, etc....we FINALLY got to work on the kitchen!!! We ended up calling my brother-in-law, Kirk, to come over for the weekend and help. Here's the result of the weekend work:

After ripping off the aluminum siding, we discovered it was actually overtop wood siding, probably painted with lead paint. Awesome.

Probably the most fun part of the project for the boys - demolition!

Goodbye rotted wall....hello breeze! Praise the Lord for a nice weather weekend.

Kirk is a pretty handy guy - he did most of the work.

End of day 1 - wall up. siding started. Electricity back on.

And...a new wall!! We had to get a new meter box, too cause there were a whole bunch of problems with the old one, of course.

Now, white would not be my first choice for siding, but it matches the white aluminum siding on the rest of the house, and since we can't afford to side the rest of the house for now, white will be just fine. It still looks a million times better than before. Nice work boys!! This week, Jeremy and I will be working on the inside...hopefully by this time next week, my kitchen will be put back together! YAY =]

Aside from the construction site that was our house this weekend, I got to have a nice visit with April and the boys. And, I got to meet my 3 week old nephew, Brennen!!! Here are pictures from what went on behind the scenes:

My sweet nephew, Brennen, 3 weeks old.

Faith enjoying her new helmet and scooter!

Cousins - Brennen, Isaiah, Faith, Caleb, and Jack

LOL - Love these kids! They were pretty great all weekend. Can't wait to see them again in two weeks!

Finally

Okay, this will be the last of my scrapbooking binge for awhile, but I am just so excited cause I was able to finish my inspiration wall, to complete my scrapbook room!!! YAY

I found these GREAT pictures frames @ Salvation Army today, and they were all on sale for 99 cents a piece!!! (Except the big one, I paid $10):

Then, I spray painted them all white....

And my wall is complete!

I love all the bright colors, and my favorite people in the world on the wall....my family. Anyway, just so glad to have it done! Now, onto the kitchen! It's been almost three months I've had only half a kitchen (no sink or dishwasher), but we finally have people coming on Saturday to work on it!!! I can't wait to have a kitchen again! =]

Scrapbook room finished!!!

My scrapbook room is finally complete!!!!

When we moved into our house, I instantly claimed this space as my future 'scrapbook space'....it's small, but cozy and just right for me to keep all my things in an inspiring place that's all mine. This is what the room looked like before:

Last week, we started putting drywall up...just on the ceiling and unfinished wall, we left the concrete walls exposed so I didn't lose too much space in the room (it really is tiny already). Jeremy did an amazing job re-wiring the room so I actually had working outlets in there, put some pots lights in to brighten it up, and helped me mud and tape. But I would like to toot my own horn for a second, because I did a lot of mudding, sanding, and ALL the painting myself! This is how it turned out:YAY! I love it! The color of the wall is called 'Sparkler' and is just bright and fun, not a color I would ever pick inside my home (I am nuetral tones kinda girl, but I wanted something different). Once I get this room completely finished, it will have an inspiration wall, and of course, lots of beautiful photos to display. The room already have shelf racks screwed into the concrete that I didn't want to bother with, so Jeremy picked up the perfect brackets and white shelves to match! Just the extra storage I was looking for! Now...the walls are concrete, none of the desks match, nothing is fancy, but I love it!!! I'm so excited to get some scrapbooking done!! Yesterday, in anticipation of using my new room, I caught up on my digital photos and ordered a bunch that I want to scrapbook from Snapfish.com (love that place!)

Susie Homemaker

For those that read my last blog, you know last week kept me busy. This week has been no different. It amazes me that even when I'm not working much, I still can't find enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I want to do! But I go through spurts, usually season-related, where I'm a lump and get nothing done, and times when I'm a productivity machine!

This week marks our first official 'big project' in our house. We're re-modeling my scrapbook room (Before and After pictures to come...once we get the After done!) We decided it was a good place to start because it's a small room, it wasn't going to cost much to fix it up, and it'd be good practice for when we finish the rest of the basement. Jeremy amazes me...he basically learned electrical stuff this week, re-wired the whole room, put drywall up on the ceiling and wall, installed potlights and gave me a working outlet...what a guy! Hopefully, it will get painted and put back together by next week...I can't wait!

In anticipation for my new room, I've been writing down ideas for what I wanted to do with it, color schemes, etc....I decided I wanted a bright and cheerful room with lots of light that inspires my creativity. So, in honor of doing first-time projects, I decided to one of my own....re-upholster and refinish a chair. I found this great chair at Salvation Army yesterday, but it was a little beat up:

It actually ended up being a fairly easy project. I used Jeremy's sander to sand down the shiny finish....

Spray painted it white, found a great fun fabric to brighten it up, and VWALA! A beautiful new chair for my scrapbook room!!!

Chair: $6.99 @ Salvation Army

Fabric: $6.00 @ Joann's

Spray paint: $2.00 (x2 - I used two cans) @ Home Depot

TOTAL COST: $16.99!!!

Now, off to getting the house put together, laundry, oil change, and packing to go to Canada for the weekend for the Great Lakes Youth Rally and see family! =]